Bobby Ross Jr. writes the Weekend Plug-in column for ReligionUnplugged.com and serves as editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 18 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.
It’s the best of the Godbeat, 2024 version. Many of the nation’s top religion journalists pick their top piece of the year.
For the popular CBS drama “Blue Bloods,” the “End of Tour” — as the final episode is dubbed — brings an emotional farewell. People of faith who love the show lament its conclusion.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti — “the most high-profile case of its term.” The case concerns a Tennessee law blocking gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A year ago, Memorial Church of Christ volunteers served Ukrainian refugee families a traditional Thanksgiving meal from Pappas Bar-B-Q, a popular Houston restaurant chain. But this November, the refugees prepared a special feast — featuring Ukrainian favorites such as stuffed dumplings known as varenyky — to show their extreme gratitude to their English-speaking brothers and sisters.
David Duncan isn’t just a source for our Weekend Plug-in columnist. He’s a dear friend. Catch up on the inside details.
Our columnist didn’t think he was a dog person. Then basset hound named Frannie came to live with him and his wife.
This week’s Weekend Plug-in explores three key storylines after the election — again — of Donald Trump as president.
The story of the late Bob and Helen Bland is as ordinary as it is extraordinary, right down to their last name. Yet on a blue-sky Sunday afternoon, a crowd of friends, family and fellow Christians gathered amid 100-foot cottonwood trees with a slight whiff of nature in the breeze to celebrate the couple’s legacy.
For Weekend Plug-in columnist Bobby Ross Jr., Nov. 5 will mark not just the presidential election but also his birthday. This is the third time this has happened in his lifetime, and it made him curious about 2024’s parallels, if any, with 1968 and 1996.
In some ways, McDonald's is like a church. Nearly every town has one. And people of all kinds are welcome.
Weekend Plug-in columnist Bobby Ross Jr. recounts his adventures as a roving religion reporter. Ross has covered news and features in all 50 states and 18 countries.
It's baseball playoff time, and six remaining teams look to make it to baseball's proverbial promised land. Here's why some of their fans have such a special — even spiritual — connection to the teams.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, faith-based disaster relief ministries are working alongside neighbors to feed survivors and clear damage.
When a legend invites you to the Big House, you go. The story of how our columnist ended up at a Michigan Wolverines game with basketball coach Garth Pleasant, who won 720 games and four small-college national championships.
As the two-year Adventures in Missions program — known as AIM — begins, participants get instruction on stewardship, security procedures, personal hygiene and respectful treatment of the Sunset Church of Christ members who house them. For nearly a decade, another topic — one often avoided by Christians — has gained prominent attention at AIM’s annual orientation. Sexual trauma.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist is leaving the Wall Street Journal for the National Catholic Reporter. Why this is a surprise — and why it's not.
SOF Missions helps veterans who — like retired Air Force Lt. Col. Damon Friedman — struggle with PTSD and other challenges from military service. At the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, many of those who served their country overseas still fight a war at home. “I’m telling you, I was going to become a statistic,” Friedman said.
The new "Reagan" biopic focuses on Ronald Reagan's role in the Cold War and the fight against Soviet communism. But faith emerges as a major storyline in the 135-minute biopic.
The new movie "You Gotta Believe," about a youth baseball team's improbable journey all the way to the Little League World Series, offers a fleeting glimpse of faith. But in real life, religion played a more crucial role.
The Baltimore Orioles hosted the team's first Faith Night promotion this week. The Orioles joined a trend of MLB franchises doing so.
The New Garden Church is not a traditional Church of Christ. Then again, it’s not trying to be. The church plant — which grew out of the Hermitage Church of Christ, a half-century-old congregation that closed in 2018 — seeks to reach a new generation with the Gospel.
Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction, spoke recently inside the Board of Education conference room at the state Capitol complex in Oklahoma City. The interview came amid a national debate that every teacher in Oklahoma must be provided with physical copies of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Ten Commandments.
Like it or not, fights over religion in public schools seem unlikely to vanish any time soon. Look for such controversies to remain prominent in the news.
In the summer heat, here are a few notes of interest from the world of religion news.
News doesn’t happen on a 9-to-5 schedule. Particularly during the 24/7 era of social media, journalists find themselves on the clock pretty much all the time.
Does God Almighty want President Joe Biden to exit the race? Does God Almighty want a second term for former President Donald Trump? America’s presidential candidates keep invoking a higher power in the 2024 campaign.
The morning after a gunman perched atop a roof narrowly missed killing former President Donald Trump, Christians across the U.S. came together Sunday — as always — to worship God and pray. Many preachers addressed the assassination attempt from the pulpit.
While religion in public schools keeps making national headlines, “released time” Bible classes are less well known. But they, too, have gained legislative attention in several states recently.
A grease fire that severely burned Richard Inyang on his stomach, arms, hands and upper thighs could have killed him. But it didn’t. As the Minnesota preacher sees it, the Lord still has a purpose for him. After his brush with death, the longtime missionary from Nigeria has no doubt about that.
President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have many fans, if any, at the Metropolitan Church of Christ in this urban community south of Los Angeles. No one interviewed at the predominantly Black congregation on a recent Lord’s Day voted for the Republican candidate.